Boston College students venture into city, get two bars in trouble

Two bars not normally associated with Boston College had to explain today how underage BC students were able to get in and consume adult beverages until the moment detectives from the BPD licensing unit asked for their IDs.

Both Clery's, 331 Columbus Ave. in the South End, and the Baseball Tavern, 1270 Boylston St. in the Fenway, faced hearings before the Boston Licensing Board this morning after being cited for underage drinkers - Clery's for three underage students, two with Bud Lights, the other with a vodka mixed drink and the Baseball Tavern, for a 19-year-old Eagle with a vodka and cranberry.

A manager at Clery's, normally a low-key neighborhood bar with a clientele that averages a bit older than the early 20s, said the three presented what appeared to be authentic licenses. BPD Det. Daniel MacDonald said all three had fake licenses - from California, Vermont and Connecticut. Two were 19, one 18, MacDonald said.

A bar manager said the staff has undergone retraining to help them better identify the young set on the odd chance they come in again.

All three of the students faced criminal charges in court. MacDonald said they were all given continued sentences for a year, which means if they stay out of trouble, the charges will be wiped from their records. Clery's attorney William Burke predicted they'll all behave for the next year, especially now that gruff Sgt. Det. William Mulvey of the BPD licensing unit has retired into a job on the BC police force under former Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. "I feel confident Sgt. Det. Mulvey will have them under his thumb over at BC now, " he said.

At the Baseball Tavern, a doorman was suspended from his job for two weeks for letting in a 19-year-old BC student who presented somebody else's expired Massachusetts license. The doorman said he realized the license was expired but let her in when she showed a debit card as her backup ID - a mistake he told the board he won't make again.

Both bars could find out Thursday if the board feels the incidents warrant any punishment.

I can think of at least a few reasons why the school an underage drinker goes to (if any) might be relevant to a discussion of an incident. Outreach to the school administration might help with reducing future incidents. Knowledge that students from a given school have started traveling to establishments in a particular neighborhood away from campus may trigger other licensees in the area to be more vigilant. Maybe events attracted out-of-town students who then went on a tear around town, and the licensees need to keep track of such events in the future so they can make sure they're prepared. I'm sure there are other reasons everyone involved may care, though I'm certainly not suggesting it's always relevant.

And it doesn't really matter in most cases (I mean, the fact that underage BC students kept pouring into Agoros on Chestnut Hill Avenue, combined with the fact that the place kept hiring BC students as bartenders was an issue, but things like that are really rare and Agoros is closed now).

But police are nothing if not detailed note keepers and so they tend to mention these details and, yes, I admit it, I find it interesting where the students are coming from.

There are entities other than the University of Massachusetts and Boston College which sell education. And some of them, unlike the latter, actually don't listen to a dumbass imaginary friend who tells them not to hand out rubbers to the customers.